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The Disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Should Signal Changes to Flight Tracking

"The
world was very astounded to find out that people didn't know where the
airplanes are." --Duane Woerth, a former U.S. Ambassador to
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

The
search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 has left the aviation
industry scrambling to find ways to prevent the tragedy of losing a flight from
happening again. Many across the world have voiced anger and bewilderment over
the inability to keep track of planes at all times. Air traffic control over
oceans especially is considered by aviation experts to be "grossly
inadequate."

According
to USA Today, many challenges prevent airlines and government regulators
from being able to track planes around the world. These challenges include:

·limited radar over oceans

·airlines not wanting to pay for maintaining
satellite links with their fleets

·worldwide governments not requiring airlines to
maintain frequent enough contact with their aircraft

Airlines
and government regulators have come together to devise ways to improve flight
tracking systems voluntarily and will begin to negotiate a standard requiring
better tracking next year. However, it could take two years to implement any
tracking standards that are agreed to, potentially trying the patience of air
travelers. What is worse, according to the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) – a branch of the United Nations that makes policy
recommendations to governments – a rule exists already which mandates
government regulators to require airlines to track their airplanes. That
requirement, however, has "never been enforced."

“This
lack of oversight needs to change or the Malaysia Airlines victims will have
(presumably) died in vain,” stated Ilyas Akbari, an aviation attorney from Baum
Hedlund Aristei & Goldman.

·June 2014 – An aviation task force met
with industry vendors and providers of services to see what is readily
available to improve flight tracking now. The task force is also looking into
which airlines are already tracking flights.

What
is Being Proposed to Improve Flight Tracking?

·September 2014 – The aforementioned task
force will make recommendations to ICAO about better ways to track flights.

·February 2015 – ICAO is slated to hold a
conference in which flight tracking standards will be agreed to with a goal of
implementing these standards within two years.

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